Content Warning: This article contains intense descriptions of sexual assault. If you or someone you know are a survivor of sexual abuse you can reach the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Additional resources can be found at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Drake Bell, who quickly rose to fame on Nickelodeon series like The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, has opened up about the sexual abuse he faced as a teenage actor.
Bell revealed the harrowing details as part of upcoming docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which will air on ID March 17-18 (via Variety and EW). In the docuseries, Bell says he was repeatedly molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck (who has no relation to Bell’s Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck).
“The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal,” Bell says. “I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
In 2004, Brian Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16. The victim was not named at the time, but Bell has now gone public with the abuse.
The docuseries, per a release from ID, “uncovers the toxic and dangerous culture behind some of the most iconic children’s shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture.”
For its part, Nickelodeon has responded to the docuseries and Bell’s revelations with the following statement to Variety:
“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct. Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.
In the third episode of the docuseries, Bell says he met Brian Peck during Season 2 of The Amanda Show.
“Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which, looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated,” Bell says.
Drake Bell’s father and manager, Joe Bell, was also interviewed for the docuseries, and remembers feeling uncomfortable with his son’s relationship with Brian Peck at the time, particularly with how touchy the dialogue coach was with the minor. He tried to express his concerns to the production crew of The Amanda Show, and remembers that he was told in response, “‘Oh, I don’t know if you knew it or not, but he’s gay. Maybe you’re just homophobic, and you just don’t understand that he’s a touchy-feely guy.’ “
Joe Bell “backed off” after feeling “ostracized,” and was eventually largely pushed out of Drake’s life. Peck would go on to become Drake’s manager, and the actor says Peck exploited the strained relationship between his parents, who are divorced. Eventually, Drake started to spend the night at Peck’s L.A. home, which was occasionally more convenient than staying with his mother in Orange County. That, Drake says, is when the first instance of physical abuse happened.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep, and I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up, and he was, he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell says. “And I froze and was in complete shock, and had no idea what to do, or how to react. And I had no idea how to get out of the situation. What am I [gonna do], call my mom and be like ‘Hey, this just happened, can you come pick me up? I’ll just sit here and wait.’ I had no car, I didn’t drive. I was 15 at this time.”
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house and it just got worse and worse and worse and worse,” he continues. “I was just trapped. I had no way out.”
Bell felt pressured to keep the abuse silent, he says, until he eventually got into a relationship, and his girlfriend’s mother started to notice something was off when Peck would repeatedly call Bell at their home. She took Bell to a family therapist and, after Peck tried to get cast as Bell’s father in Drake & Josh, Bell opened up to his own mother about the situation, who called the police.
“The investigation was pretty brutal,” he says. “I had to be excruciatingly detailed about every single thing, time that it had happened with two absolute strangers. The worst part was I had to make a phone call to Brian and get him to admit what he’d done.”
Peck spent 16 months in prison following the trial, and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is scheduled to air in four parts, and is set to include interviews from various other cast members, crew, and more who worked on Nickelodeon at the time.
Thumbnail credit: Photo by Michael Tran/Getty Images
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
